Chapter – 05
Rapine first met Bayern a very long time ago, when they were still children.
Bayern’s father, the former emperor, was a narrow-minded man who was terribly afraid of losing his power.
When he discovered that his son possessed thepower of flames, he became frightened.
The emperor before him had possessed a powerful ability, but after that emperor died, no one else showed any special power. Because of that, the former emperor had only barely managed to defeat many rivals and take the throne.
So he constantly worried that one day his son might take the throne away from him.
At the same time, he wished to choose another son—someone easier to control—as his successor instead of Bayern.
“Raise him outside the imperial palace. Make sure no one knows he is a prince.”
Using the excuse that Bayern should live among the common people and learn about their lives before inheriting the throne, he sent the boy away from the palace.
Because of that, Bayern had a very unhappy childhood.
He grew up near theLobru territory, almost abandoned, without even knowing that he was a prince who had been expelled from the imperial palace.
That was when he met Rapine.
“Where did you come from? Did you come here alone without your dad too?”
That day, Bayern was wandering around the area in his usual dirty clothes.
Suddenly, a girl about his age walked up to him and spoke.
The Rapine he saw for the first time that day had a rather gloomy expression.
“…I don’t know.”
He answered quietly.
He knew she didn’t mean any harm, but the words‘without your dad’stuck in his chest and made him feel even more depressed.
“What’s your name?”
“Bayern…”
“Your family name?”
“I don’t have one.”
“I see.”
Rapine was the first person who did not look at him strangely for not knowing his surname or even his parents.
Most people mocked him and ignored him when they heard that he didn’t know his family name.
But Rapine didn’t do that. She simply seemed curious.
From that day on, she spent time with Bayern and played with him often.
Bayern also quickly opened his heart to Rapine, who always took care of him more than anyone else.
Even though she wore better clothes than him, she always treated him as an equal and smiled while looking straight into his eyes.
During Bayern’s dark childhood, Rapine was the only ray of light.
Even after he ascended the throne, Bayern continued searching for Rapine.
“Hey. Why do you look so neat these days?”
When Rapine asked about his suddenly clean and tidy appearance, Bayern struggled to tell her that he had become the emperor.
But Rapine burst out laughing.
She laughed as if it were the most ridiculous joke in the world.
How could such nonsense be true?
Seeing her laugh like that, Bayern could not say anything more.
She said that if he were really the emperor, she would never dare treat him so casually.
Bayern only smiled.
And he would regret for the rest of his life that he did not confess his feelings to her at that time.
Because soon after that—
Rapine became engaged to Cedric.
Rapine returned to her room alone.
For a moment, she felt lonely. But that feeling quickly disappeared.
In fact, she thought it was better to be alone.
The Marquis and Elizabeth.
They were her only blood relatives and the family she loved enough to give everything for.
But now she realized that they did not think of her as family.
There was no reason for her to stay here anymore.
Rapine decided she would no longer beg for their attention.
Let’s leave this place.
For the daughter of a declining marquis family to stand on her own, the most effective way would be to reveal that she had awakened her special ability.
And it would be even better if she revealed it somewhere that everyone could see.
“Maybe at a banquet or something.”
If people knew she possessed an ability, she would gain the strength to live independently.
Then she thought about where she should go afterward.
Recently she had heard that theborder regionswere lacking workers.
The border…
If she went far away from the Marquis’ house and helped defend the country, it might not be a bad choice.
She did not want her ability to go to waste.
And she also did not want to do nothing while drowning in sadness.
At the border, she would never have to meet the members of the Marquis family again.
And she could use her ability to do something meaningful.
“The tea party next week is too small…”
Rapine quietly organized her plans.
To prove that she was skilled enough to go to the frontier, she had to show her ability.
And it had to be in front of so many people that even the Marquis, who was good at hiding the truth, would not be able to cover it up.
The best method would be to prove her ability directly to the emperor.
The problem was that the emperor hated banquets and gatherings.
He almost never showed himself at such events.
The plan itself was good, but meeting the emperor would be very difficult.
“So what should I do…”
Should she stand in front of the imperial palace and beg to meet him?
While she was thinking about it, someone suddenly pushed the door open.
Rapine turned her head toward the sound.
Cedric stood there, looking extremely angry.
The moment their eyes met, he strode into the room.
“What was that attitude earlier? Just because you awakened an ability, are you getting arrogant?”
He questioned her sharply.
Rapine let out a dry laugh.
What did he expect from her now?
Even though all he cared about was Elizabeth.
She spoke calmly.
“Cedric, when I think about it…”
“What.”
“You really act more like Elizabeth’s fiancé than mine.”
Cedric froze with a slightly startled expression.
His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, but then he closed it again.
“Well… it doesn’t matter since we’re going to break off the engagement anyway.”
Rapine turned her gaze away from him.
She no longer felt he was worth dealing with.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
“Miss, Mr. Bayern has come to see you.”
A servant’s voice came from outside.
When Rapine heard the nameBayern, her expression brightened. She glanced at Cedric.
“You heard that, right? I have someone to meet. Please leave now. I’ll send the engagement cancellation papers soon.”
“The engagement cannot be broken.”
Cedric answered firmly.
How ridiculous.
He had acted like he wanted the engagement to end before, but now he was saying this.
“And don’t meet that man Bayern either. I don’t like it.”
“What did you say?”
Rapine burst out laughing.
“Why are you laughing?”
Cedric demanded, looking baffled.
“Because you sound like a child who only thinks about his own feelings and never about his own behavior.”
“What?”
Cedric raised his voice angrily at the wordchild.
But Rapine ignored him and turned away.
“It’s funny. You never act like a proper fiancé, yet you insist the engagement can’t be broken and even interfere with me meeting a friend.”
She walked toward the mirror to check her appearance.
Behind her, Cedric shouted again.
“So you think it’s normal to meet another man while you have a fiancé?”
How amusing.
Only at times like this did he try to act like a fiancé.
Rapine turned around from the mirror.
“Then do you think it’s right for you to treat your fiancée’s sister the way you do?”
Did he truly not realize what he had done?
Even if he didn’t, I have no intention of canceling the breakup.
Cedric thought for a moment before replying angrily.
“You’re not jealous just because I was kind to Beth, are you? I’d rather not believe you’re that petty.”
It was the most foolish answer he could have given.
Rapine was speechless.
She had many things she could say, but she doubted he would understand.
“No. Exactly as you said. So let’s just break off the engagement.”
“Stop talking about breaking it off!”
“Please leave. My guest is waiting.”
She clearly told him to go.
Cedric reluctantly turned toward the door.
“Fine, I’ll leave for today. We’ll talk again later.”
Judging from his dissatisfied expression, he really wanted to stop Rapine from meeting Bayern.
But he was already very late for the emperor’s summons.
Cedric slammed the door loudly before leaving.
Before, such behavior would have bothered Rapine.
Now it only seemed ridiculous.
Soon, Bayern arrived.
“Oh, you just came up? You must have run into Cedric.”
Rapine greeted him warmly.
“No, we must have missed each other. I didn’t see him.”
Bayern smiled to himself.
What would happen if Cedric saw him here?
If he learned that the man his fiancée was closest to was actually the person he had to serve and the only lord who bullied him every day…
He might faint on the spot.
That expression would be worth seeing.
Imagining Cedric’s twisted face, Bayern briefly showed a sly smile before quickly hiding it when he noticed Rapine looking at him.
“What’s that?”
Rapine pointed at the thing in his hand.
“What else? Your birthday present. Happy birthday.”
For a moment, silence filled the room.
Rapine blinked her wide eyes.
She could hardly believe the words“Happy birthday.”
Soon tears began falling down her cheeks.
She had never expected that someone would wish her a happy birthday today.
It was almost midnight.
Not her family.
Not her fiancé.
But someone else had said those words to her.
And somehow, that made her feel even sadder.
